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March 2, 2009

Turnip Salad - Weekend Herb Blogging #173

Turnip is normally grown for its white, bulbous taproot, but there are smaller and tender varierties grown for human consumption. The most common type of turnip is mostly white-skinned apart from the upper 1–6 centimeters, which protrude above the ground and are purple, red, or greenish wherever sunlight has fallen.

The interior flesh is entirely white.Turnip leaves are sometimes eaten as "turnip greens", and they resemble mustard greens in flavor. Turnips are high only in Vitamin C. On the other hand, turnip greens are a good source of Vitamin A, folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and calcium and are high in lutein. In Turkey, particularly in the area near Adana, turnips are used to flavor şalgam, a juice made from purple carrots and spices served ice cold. (source:wikipedia)

I had turnip for the first time today and I was surprised how delicious it is! I combined it with kohlrabi (German Turnip), cashew-parsley pesto and poached egg.

For the pesto simply combine parsley, cashews, parmesan and olive oil in a food processor and pulse it until well mixed, season with salt and pepper. For the poached egg take egg an hour before you want to prepare it out of the fridge. Bring 500 ml water with 1 tablespoon vinegar to boil, reduce it heat and keep it simmer. Crack egg into a small glass, but be careful, so that the egg yolk stays intact, then place the cup near the surface of the hot water and gently drop the egg into the water. With a spoon, nudge the eggwhites closer to their yolks. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes, until the egg white is cooked.